CHAPTER 2
The doors to a tavern swung open, and in came a well built man wearing a brown leather vest, bandana cap, and pants that cut off a little above his boots. He was clearly not from the area. Most notably, he sported a peculiar looking mustache that pointed straight out from each side of his face, and had a shiny crystal around his neck.
The socializing from the few other customers came to a halt as they watched him wander inside. They chuckled to themselves, mostly at the man's mustache, but kept it quiet. This guy looked pretty strong, and no one really wanted any trouble.
The man sat down and the bartender came over.
"Hello there matey, what can I getcha?"
"I'll just have some water, thanks." said the man, with quick smile.
The bartender chuckled, and gave the man a funny look.
"Water? If ya want water lad, there's plenty outside. We serve real drinks in here."
Suddenly a woman came over, and pushed the bartender aside. She was quite obviously his wife.
"Ignore my husband, I'll get you your water." spoke the woman in an enchanting voice. "How about I getcha somethin' to eat as well, darlin'."
"I'd really like an apple, if you have any." requested the man, realizing that he actually was pretty hungry.
"Sure do, but only if you tell me your name."
The man took a sip of water as the lady leaned on her elbows watching him.
He smiled slightly.
"My name's One."
"Like the number?" she asked, curiously.
"That's right." he nodded. "It's supposed to signify something, but I never understood what."
"Well I'm sure you'll figure it out someday, handsome." said the woman with a wink, and threw him his apple.
- - - - - - - - - -
Several minutes later, the room grew quiet again and One turned to look at the entrance. He was curious to see who was causing the silence this time. There in the doorway was the silhouette of a rather tall, burley man with four smaller figures behind him. It was soon clear to all that this was a pirate crew, ready to stir up some trouble.
The group didn't take long to decide where they wanted to go, and walked over to a couple of young men sitting at a table.
"Hello there lads." greeted the tall bearded pirate. "Yer sittin' at our table. I suggest ye find yerselves a new one."
"Hah, we're not movin' for nobody, find your own." stated the young man sitting nearest to him.
The bearded pirate glared at him, using the eye that didn't have a patch.
"You've done it now." warned one of the other pirates. "You don't talk that way to our cap'n!"
Suddenly the bearded pirate thrust his arm out, grabbing the young men by their necks. Slowly he lifted them up off of the ground and brought them up almost to the ceiling.
"Who's that man?" One asked the bartender as he bit into his apple.
The bartender seemed surprised.
"Yer kiddin'! Have you been livin' under a rock lad?"
"Actually I've only just come here from the North Sea, I'm not really familiar with this area." One explained to him.
"Well that there's Rottenbeard, the meanest, most rotten pirate around." the bartender told One as he dried a glass. "He and his crew sail the seas, plundering and stealing valuables from every town they come across."
One lowered his brow and frowned as he watched Rottenbeard throw the young men across the floor, and into the wall. He then turned back around and faced the bartender.
"Why doesn't anyone stop him?"
"Most are too afraid to try, but the few that did have never been seen again. Trust me mate, you'd be best steerin' clear of that lot." warned the bartender. "Nothin' but trouble."
One shrugged it off and bit into his apple. Deep down he wanted to help the men on the floor and teach Rottenbeard a lesson, but he ignored it.
"One, you're new around here." he told himself. "There's no sense making enemies just yet. Let it go."
He snapped out of his thoughts when he suddenly spotted an old man get up from across the room and hobble towards Rottenbeard. For some reason he found himself listening in.
"Yer Rottenbeard aren't ye?" the old man mumbled, licking his toothless gums.
Rottenbeard made a face as a string of drool trickled out of the old man's mouth, and barely missed his shoulder.
"What's it to ya?"
"I've got a proposition for ya." said the old man as he placed an arm on the table for balance. "I've got me a map here that leads to a great deal of treasure."
"Treasure ye say?" Pinchpenny asked, tapping his fingers together. His interest was obviously peaked.
Rottenbeard shook his head and looked unimpressed.
"Lemme ask ya somethin' landlubber. Why in the blazes are ye here talking to us instead of claimin' all of that booty for yerself?"
The old man leaned in close, smiling at Rottenbeard. He was about to speak when he suddenly began a fit of hacking and coughing.
Rottenbeard grimaced again and pushed the old man away. When the old man finally collected himself, he explained.
"Well the thing is, a landlubber like meself has no means of gettin to this treasure, nor would I be able to bring it all back on me own, seein' as it's on an island."
"Which is why you need pirates like us to help you." said Tricks, continuing the thought.
"How much treasure is there?" asked Zigzag as he bounced up and down in his seat excitedly.
The old man turned to Zigzag, and laughed.
"There be so much treasure lad, that ye won't know what to do with it all."
"I'm sure we'd come up with something." muttered a suspicious Rottenbeard.
"What kinda shares are we talkin' here?" asked Pinchpenny, leaning forward in his seat, trying to get straight to business.
"Fifty-Fifty methinks." the old man replied after some thought.
Rottenbeard immediately laughed out loud.
"Me crew would be doin' all the hard work, and you expect to claim half the booty? All ye did is show us a bloody map!"
The old man frowned, and pointed a shaky finger at Rottenbeard.
"If it weren't for me, matey, ye wouldn't even know that the treasure existed."
"But now we do." said Quicksail, suddenly joining the conversation.
Rottenbeard grinned, and realized his crewman was thinking along the same lines as himself.
The old man looked confused.
"Aye, ya see, now that we have the map, we don't even need ye at all." Rottenbeard deviously explained as he yanked the piece of paper from the old man's hands.
The crew started laughing, as they all got up from their seats. Tricks gave the old man a shove when she walked past, and he crashed to the floor.
Rottenbeard and his crew headed towards the exit, but before they could leave, a voice shouted from the bar.
"Hey, Rottenbeard, I suggest you give back his map." said One, sternly. He couldn't watch any longer, and a strange instinct had suddenly kicked in.
"And who might you be?" asked Rottenbeard, as he turned around.
One stood with his hands on his hips, and a look of resentment on his face.
"My name is One and I won't let you treat an old man that way."
"Didja hear that lads?" chuckled Rottenbeard as he looked at his crew for a reaction. "What are ye going to do, prick us with yer mustache?"
One frowned and lowered his brow even more.
"I just might." he countered, and began to walk towards the pirates.
"Nobody speaks to Rottenbeard that way and gets away with it!" bellowed Rottenbeard, and crossed his arms.
"Get him mateys!"
Tricks, Zigzag, and Quicksail suddenly rushed towards One, swords drawn.
Within seconds, One leapt into the air, flipping over the surprised crew.
"Where'd he go?" snarled Tricks, as she scanned the room.
"There!" shouted Zigzag, spotting One on a table behind them.
Quicksail lunged and took a swipe at One's legs with his sword.
One hopped over it, and kicked it out of his hands. The sword flew backwards, planting itself into the wall behind them.
Quicksail scurried backwards, as Tricks and Zigzag advanced, surrounding him.
One dropped to the floor, and reached for the table he had just been standing on.
Using it as a shield, he blocked several sword attacks from Tricks and Zigzag. He then turned to face Zigzag, and rushed towards him, table out in front. Zigzag was pushed backwards by it, and trapped between a wall and the table.
Quicksail had meanwhile yanked his sword out of the wall, and snuck up behind One. He readied himself, and attacked with another sword swipe. One hopped again, doing the splits in mid-air, avoiding the blade by a mile.
As he landed from his jump, One reached out, and caught Quicksail's hand before he could recover from the swing, and yanked the sword from it.
"Arr, get him ya useless swabs!" Tricks ordered, taking command of the attacking pirates.
Just then, One realized that he hadn't heard a sound out of Rottenbeard since the fight had started. He searched the room, but couldn't see him anywhere. He must have slipped away while One had been distracted. What a weasel, leaving his crew to do his dirty work for him.
Suddenly Tricks leapt into the air, swinging her sword downwards at One as she fell. One quickly dove to the side, and her sword got itself stuck in the wood of a chair.
One picked up the chair and tossed it across the room, sword and all.
Tricks cursed, and joined Quicksail as they scrambled to retrieve her sword.
Just then, One was caught off guard as Pinchpenny hopped onto his back and wrapped his arms around his neck.
One struggled, and shook from side to side, but couldn't loosen the grip. Across the room, Tricks had retrieved her sword and hurried back towards One, with Quicksail following behind. Zigzag finally managed to free himself from the table, and the three surrounded One.
Tricks and Zigzag again advanced, swinging their swords back above their heads and straight down at One, forcing him to raise the sword he had stolen from Quicksail. The three swords collided with a loud metal clang, and Zigzag and Tricks continued to push downwards, hoping to dislodge One's sword from his hands. One pushed upwards to counter with his one hand, and used the other in an attempt to loosen Pinchpenny's grip on his neck.
Quicksail took this opportunity to grab hold of One's leg and began pulling, in hopes of making him fall.
This was getting to be too much, and One knew he had to do something or this would go on all day long.
Taking action right away, One pushed his sword upwards with all of his might, knocking Tricks and Zigzag backwards. They stumbled to keep their balance, but before they could steady themselves, One grabbed Pinchpenny by the collar of his shirt, tore him from his back, and flung him right into them. The three toppled to the ground in a heap. With a quick kick from One, Quicksail soon joined the pirate pile on the floor.
One shook his head, but couldn't help but laugh at the sight of them all lying there. He swiftly picked up the two swords sitting next to Tricks and Zigzag, and slid them into the holsters on his back.
"Are you alright?" One asked as he knelt down near the pirates.
"We're fine!" shouted Tricks and pulled herself to her feet.
One held out his hand to help the boys up but they wouldn't accept it.
"I hope you all learned something from this." One remarked, lowering his hand.
"Yea, we learned that we hate ya!" Tricks yelled again, and the four bruised pirates scurried out of the tavern, the door swinging behind them.
One smirked as he watched them go, and then made his way over to the old man who was still on the floor.
"Are you okay?" he asked, as he pulled the man to his feet. There was no way he could have gotten up on his own.
"I'm fine thank you." the old man replied with a grin. He patted One on the arm in gratitude, and headed towards the exit.
One watched as the old man hobbled out of the tavern, and wondered if he was even going to make it home without keeling over.
Soon the bar began to fill again as people emerged from their hiding spots. One headed back to his seat at the bar, but was unable to shake Rottenbeard from his thoughts.
"Forget about them, lad." the bartender told One when he had sat down. "Remember, they're just trouble."
One shrugged his shoulders and downed the remaining water in his glass.
He spotted the bartender's wife looking at him as though she were trying to figure something out.
"What's the matter?" One asked her.
"I coulda sworn you had a beautiful crystal 'round yer neck when I was talkin' to ya earlier, but maybe I'm just goin' crazy, cause it ain't there now."
One's eyes grew wide and he quickly looked down. Sure enough his crystal was missing.
"Those pirates! They stole it!" One exclaimed, as he thought back to the struggle. "The one who was choking me must have nabbed it."
"Goin' after them would be suicide matey." warned the bartender, knowing exactly what One was thinking. "Yer necklace ain't worth it."
One frowned as he stood up to leave. This wasn't just any old necklace, it had his lucky crystal tied to the end of it. It was very special to him, and he couldn't let them get away with it.
"Thanks for the food." he said hastily, and tossed some money to the bartender's wife.
Good luck!" she shouted, as One hurried out of the tavern in pursuit of Rottenbeard.